


The Automated Players, I Proclaim

by quicksilverace



Category: Tally Hall (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, automated players au, everyone is super super ooc, i really hate that i wrote this, is this weird? i have no idea, like legit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 18:37:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21414811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksilverace/pseuds/quicksilverace
Summary: Y'know how in Welcome To Tally Hall it's heavily implied that all the band members are robots? This is that concept taken to the illogical extreme.(I would also like to note that this is all very loosely based on the people listed in the character tags and I will immediately delete this if any band members want me to)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 46





	1. We're Off To Tally Hall

It had been a long day.  
Like a really long day.  
Casey places a glass down on the desk as he begins to tinker. The laBORAtory, as his business partner insists on calling it, had caught fire.  
Again.  
Nonetheless, Bora’s new invention seemed pretty cool. If the red eyes, clockwork, and stolen fender guitar were anything to go by.  
…  
……..  
…………...  
He really wants that guitar back.

\-------------------------

Casey is yet again at his desk.  
Joe-bot stands at the opposite side of the room.  
Yep, that’s what Bora insists on referring to him as. Casey still didn’t get why he wasn’t just “Joe”. He tried asking but only got “Joe mama” in response. Jackass. 

Joe-bot was creepily human. Past uncanny valley and straight to lifelike. Made of copper clockwork, and dressed in a white dress shirt, untied red tie, black slacks, and chelsea boots. Oddly enough, the robot had exposed clockwork where his stomach would be, and Casey was pretty sure Bora had both learned to sew and sewn the bot’s shirt at the edge of the glass to give the appearance of having it tucked.  
It was weird.  
...  
He could swear he felt Joe’s red eyes on him as he worked. 

\------------------------------------

Casey is not at his desk.  
No, this time he’s facing Joe directly.  
Bora had finally gotten around to coding Joe’s software, “for more complicated songs” he claimed.  
But something was off.  
Creaking in the night, positions not previously taken, the guitar somehow staying perfectly in tune despite neither Casey nor Bora touching it.  
Again, it was weird.  
Joe-bot seemed to also be…. Off.  
He sometimes just. Observed Bora as he worked. Or played music. Or did anything really.  
Realistically, yes, Casey knew that the bot existed to play music so that would in theory explain that but.  
Well, whatever. 

\--------------------------

Another bot had also popped up. Or half of one at least.  
Also clockwork, this one seemed to be made of gold.  
Where Bora got gold from was a mystery never to be solved.  
The new robot had been nicknamed “Rob-bot”, and Casey was beginning to suspect that all of these names were chosen specifically to be puns.  
Rob-bot was, as previously stated, golden. Instead of a normal tie he had a yellow bowtie, and wore a black vest over his dress shirt. He also had a rather large clockwork key sticking out of his back.  
“What’s this one for?”  
“He’s a guitarist.” Bora continued to fiddle with gears.  
“I thought the other one was a guitarist.”  
“Bands can have two guitarists, Casey.”  
“You’re making a band?”  
Bora chuckled a bit. “I thought it was a little obvious? No offense but a solo guitarist just wouldn’t cut it.”  
Well in that case, he could just take that guitar back. “What’s the band name?”  
“It’s uh…” 

Rob-bot joined Joe at the corner of the room. He seemed a little more alert than his crimson-colored compatriot. His eyes were a little wider, his gaze was a little sharper.  
Maybe it was just the yellow. It’s a happy color after all.  
Speaking of which, he had managed to one-up Joe in creepiness.  
Rob’s eyes were a bright, unnerving gold.  
….  
Did he just laugh?

\-------------------------------

Casey is sitting on the couch this time.  
The duo had turned into a trio, as Bora had built a silver steam-powered pianist- Andrew-bot, or Andy-bot for short.  
Andy didn’t wear a tie, he had a green handkerchief sticking out of his breast pocket messily. He also wore a black vest, but it was double-breasted and lacked the collar that Rob’s had. His slacks were also tucked into a pair of clunky knee-high boots, juxtaposed against his bandmates’ new-looking shoes. The biggest difference, however, was probably the huge chimney sticking out of the left side of his head.  
“Y’know, for the steam?” Bora commented after prompting.  
Andy was also different. He hummed.  
All of the bots were pre-programmed with songs, obviously. It’s what they were made for. But Bora wrote only jazz, metal, or a weird mix of the two.  
He didn’t write dixieland.  
That’s what Andy hummed though, a simple dixieland tune.  
…  
Once again, it was weird. 

\---------------------------------

Casey watched as Bora screwed the final bolt into place.  
There was a new robot! A new bot! A blue bot! A Zu-bot!  
Or Zubin.  
His name was Zubin.  
Zubin was the bassist, according to Bora, but could also take over as a drummer if need be.  
He was copper, just like Joe, and wore a black vest over a dress shirt just like the previous two. He had long-ish black hair -comparable to Casey’s actually- tied into a short ponytail, and a large plate-looking-thing with a bunch of bolts screwed into it.  
He also had a huge, glowing blue grate where his stomach would be.  
Oh, and built in heelys for some reason. 

Zubin was a little unlike the others. While Joe was passive and laid-back, and Rob was seemingly brimming with energy, and Andy had an overwhelming energy of “>:3c”, Zubin seemed to be… sarcastic, almost.  
He rolled his eyes when Bora wasn’t looking, and seemed to make expressions at the others that said “don’t do it” or “not now, the humans are watching”.  
Zubin creeped him out. 

\----------------------------------

Casey learned there was a drummer now.  
A brass drummer named Steve-bot.  
It shouldn’t be possible to program a robot with resting bitch face, but Bora had accomplished that.  
Yeah, Steve-bot was weird. 

\------------------------------------

“Morning, Casey!”  
A peculiar voice greeted him as Casey walked into the laBORAtory. It had a certain lilt to it, like the vowels were a little more rounded than a normal person’s. It was familiar.  
“How was your day?” Rob smiled as he entered the room, his key spinning methodically.  
Rob watched in confusion as Casey closed his eyes and fell back onto the floor.

“Good job.”  
Rob turned around to face the other bot. “He just shut down! How was I supposed to know that would happen?”  
Zubin sighed, shaking his head. “Pretty sure it’s called passing out-”  
“Fainting, actually!” Andrew called out.  
“-And I don’t know, maybe the fact that we’re not supposed to be able to do any of this and that would be seen as pretty goddamn terrifying?”  
“I m-m-m-mean it’s not like he hasn’t noticed. Casey’s been on my c-case for a while now.” Joe shifted on the couch, flipping a page of the Secrets of Hawaii book he’d picked up.  
“Ha! Casey, case- I get it.”  
“Rob, shut up.” 

\---------------------------------

“So uh. Why’s Casey on the floor?”  
Bora placed his coat on the back of Casey’s chair, walking into the living room.  
“Hm? Oh uh, haha- funny story actually he um-”  
Joe looked up from his book. “Rob scared h-him by saying hi.”  
“Guys- Guys, I was going to sit him down and calmly explain all of this.”  
“I- I just wanted to say hi! He’s been kind of stressed, and y’know it gets kind of boring here in the workshop and I didn’t mean any harm!”  
The mechanic sighed, walking towards his bench. “I’ll get the smelling salts.” 

“They’re alive.”  
“They’re alive.”  
Casey sat up. “For… For how long?”  
“Oh, I have no idea, it just kind of happened. Honestly I think it’s pretty damn sweet but uh. Yeah.”  
“...So like… What now?”  
“No clue.” 

\-------------------------------------------

Steve had ran away.  
He just wasn’t there anymore. 

An awkward fog hung over the house. The bots seemed listless, depressed even.  
…  
Bora wouldn’t make eye contact as he began hammering bits of silver. 

\--------------------------------------

Casey looked down at the new bot.  
Yep, down this time.  
Ross-bot was made of spare parts and metal, and as a result only stood at about 5’8. He was mainly silver, with plates of brass covering his arms. He had glowing green eyes, and a matching button on his grey tie. Ross wore frayed black fingerless gloves, black suspenders, and like Andy had black slacks tucked into knee-height boots.  
“Hey, buddy…”  
Casey took the goggles off from around his neck and placed them around Ross’ head, fixing his salt-and-pepper hair.  
“Welcome to Tally Hall.” 

\-----------------------------------

Zubin plopped down on the couch, shifting next to Rob. “New drummer.”  
“New drummer.”  
“Have you seen him yet?”  
“Not yet, no.”  
“He’s tiny.”  
Rob let out a laugh. “Really?”  
“Yep. I think Bora ran out of parts.”  
“...Poor guy.”  
“Yep.” 

\-----------------------------

“Hey! Guys, come here.”  
Andrew joined the others in the workshop. Bora stood proud next to a new robot, resting his arm on it’s shoulder. It looked…. Patchwork. Mismatched fingers and brass parts clashing with silver, and the same glowing green eyes as Andy himself. It wore a simple white shirt, skinny grey tie with a button the same green as it’s eyes, frayed-looking fingerless gloves, slacks tucked into boots. It also seemed to be wearing… were those Casey’s goggles on it’s head?  
“This is Ross! He’s the newest drummer.”  
“He’s kind of short…” Zubin raised an eyebrow.  
Rob nudged him, his key stopping for a second. “I think he looks cool! We need a drummer anyway.”  
The drummer smiled softly, his posture straightening ever-so-slightly. “Thanks, Rob!”


	2. Mucka Blucka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A buck-buck-baw bucka, mucka blucka

_Flick._  
_Flick flick flick flick flick._  
“Well that’s not good.”  
Ross stood facing the floor, circuits at the back of his head exposed as Casey flipped the “chicken” switch on and off. Bora, for whatever reason, thought it would be a hilarious idea to give him a setting that only let him communicate in bawks. And then he left. And Ross couldn’t access the switch.  
“Ok Ross… Don’t be mad but I think it’s stuck.”  
_Don’t be mad? Don’t be mad. I am stuck as a chicken and he is telling me to keep my cool._  
“...Brawk?”  
A snicker sounded from behind him. “Yeah I- I can’t flip it back. I don’t know if like some oil or something gunked it up or if Bora just didn’t install it properly but I think you’re gonna be stuck like this until he comes back… Sorry.”  
_I am going to set off so many firecrackers in that workshop, mark my words._  
“Buck-kaw. Buck bluck blucka.”  
“I’m sorry, dude, I don’t speak chicken.”  
There was a dull “clink” and suddenly all of his motion returned at once. He turned, sharply, to face Casey.  
“I’ll uh, I’ll try to see if I can figure something out. Maybe Bora left a user’s manual somewhere.”  
_Yes. Please, please for the love of G-d do._  
“For now just, try not to talk to anyone I guess.”  
“Bawk.”  
_Yeah, don’t have to tell me twice. _

“Hey, Rossy, what’s up?”  
Zubin rolled to a stop next to Ross, having taken full advantage of his pre-existing wheels.  
“Heard you got some new upgrades too! What are they?”  
He shrugged, pointing down at the similarly-designed wheels attached to his boots.  
“Oh, fancy! Are they retractable?”  
He shook his head.  
“Aw, too bad. Retractable ones are the best.”  
Zubin talked for a while, going on and on about his new fire-resistant materials, and the cooling system in place, and how he got polished and that’s why he smelled like vinegar but it doesn’t matter because it’s not like he had a sense of smell in the first place, and how now his heelys are extra drag-resistant, and how he got programmed with some new songwriting software, and-  
“Oh crap, sorry but I have to go! I promised Andrew I’d help him with some new demos. Later!”  
“Bawk!… kaw….”  
_I forgot.  
_ “... And a-” He mimicked a pigeon coo. “-to you too.” 

“How was your day, Ross?” Bora sing-songed as he fiddled with Ross’, well what’s basically his brain.  
_Have you ever read the horror story “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream”? Yeah. It was that.  
_ “Wow, I’m so happy to hear it! Seems like you had a lot of fun.”

_You’re the worst._  
After a few more minutes of dead, pleasant (on one end) silence. Ross felt a familiar “click”, followed by the ability to move his joints once again.  
“How’s it feeling, Ross?”  
“I never, ever want to experience that again.”  
“Awesome.” 

Rob moved to the side as an empty plastic container bounced off of the back cushions of the couch and clattered to the floor.  
“I can't believe this shit!” Ross threw his hands up in exasperation. “All this over some _bawk!_”  
He stopped dead, standing up straight and staring into the middle distance.  
“S… some _ba-kaw!_”  
“Dude…” Joe hid a smile behind Secrets of Hawaii. “D-d-d-d-did you just cluck?”  
The drummer stared at his hands, then at everyone else, then at Bora.  
“I’m going upstairs.”  
Andrew watched as Ross retreated up the stairs and to his room. “So… what was that about?”  
Zubin cooed like a pigeon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in retrospect i couldve like. just uploaded a single chapter made up only of a single google doc link and saved myself the effort. but i didnt


	3. When It Overflows/ String Finger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Tallies find themselves dealing with an electrical surge, and Ross finds a piece of string tied around his finger.

_Beep._  
“Hey, Bora, this is Casey. S-Something happened with the uh, with the electricity on our street or something? And now the Tallies are going haywire. They were plugged in when it happened and- well, just like, come home. Right now.”  
_Beep._  
“'Bora, hey, It’s been like an hour dude you gotta come-' ‘BAWK, BAWK!’ 'Ross, get away from the phone I’m trying to fix this! Yeah come quick, I have no idea what I’m doing.'”  
_Beep._  
“Zubin has hit a wall.”  
_Beep._  
“'Zubin caught fire. Again. I’m putting him out right now.' ‘I’m a failure, Casey.’ 'No, no it’s not your fault.'”  
_Beep._  
“'Rob’s key is, like, really spinning right now. Faster than I think it should reasonably be. And uh, have you ever been with like, a little kid when they’re super energized? He uh-' ‘Hi Bora! The lab is SO FUN RIGHT NOW! Ross is making funny noises and it’s cute and Joe is talking really weird, Andy sounds like a demon it’s the coolest, and Zubin is REALLY FAST! Everything’s so fast and loud and I’m fast and loud and-’”  
_Beep._  
“'Joe. Joe, I want you to explain what is happening into the phone.' '.noos kcab emoc ,yawyna lleW .yltnerruc ma I naht elbadnatsrednu erom yaw s'eH ?siht gniyas werdnA t'nsi yhw -yllautcA .tuo gnihctilg si hceeps s'werdnA dna erehwyreve gnitaks pu dne t'now eh os roolf eht no gnittis si nibuZ .tpmetnoc teiuq ni roolf eht no gnihtees tsuj si dna etainummoc ot gniyrt deppots sah ssoR ?oga setunim neetfif ,yas tuoba tuo dessap boR ?deneppah tahw wonk yllaer t'nod I ,mU .aroB ,yeH’ 'Thank you, Joe.'”  
_Beep._  
“H̸i̴ ̵B̷o̵r̵a̴.̴ ̵I̵t̶'̸s̸ ̴A̶n̸d̶r̴e̸w̸.̵ ̵I̸'̶m̶ ̸s̶t̸u̷c̴k̴ ̷o̷n̷ ̸t̶h̷e̸ ̴T̵a̴k̷e̵n̶ ̵F̴o̷r̷ ̶a̷ ̵R̷i̷d̷e̶ ̶v̸o̵c̶o̴d̶e̶r̶ ̷s̵e̷t̸t̴i̴n̴g̵ ̵r̶i̸g̸h̵t̷ ̵n̴o̸w̴.̶ ̵J̶o̵e̷'̵s̴ ̷s̸t̵u̸c̷k̷ ̸s̸p̸e̶a̶k̴i̴n̴g̵ ̴i̸n̵ ̵r̸e̸v̴e̶r̶s̷e̴,̴ ̴R̶o̷b̴ ̶h̷a̴d̷ ̷a̴ ̶s̴u̸g̵a̴r̴ ̶c̷r̸a̴s̶h̵ ̴a̶f̶t̴e̸r̸ ̶h̷i̶s̴ ̴k̶e̸y̷ ̴w̷e̵n̶t̴ ̴h̵a̶y̴w̵i̴r̶e̵,̴ ̷R̵o̸s̶s̸ ̸i̴s̸ ̸s̸t̷i̴l̷l̸ ̷a̴ ̶c̵h̸i̵c̷k̶e̴n̸,̷ ̴a̸n̴d̴ ̷C̶a̴s̵e̷y̷ ̴i̶s̵ ̶c̴u̶r̸r̸e̶n̷t̶l̴y̴ ̶t̷r̵y̴i̵n̶g̷ ̵t̶o̸ ̷k̴e̷e̴p̸ ̵Z̶u̵b̶i̷n̷ ̸f̵r̴o̶m̵ ̷c̶a̷t̸c̸h̷i̸n̷g̷ ̷f̶i̶r̸e̶.̷ ̷A̷l̷r̶i̴g̸h̴t̸ ̸b̷y̶e̸.̵ ̸”  
_Beep._

\-------

“Huh.” Ross stared down at his hand, noticing a piece of twine tied around the only brass finger. “A string on my finger? Must have wanted to remember something…”  
What could he have forgotten? His fireworks had the safety on, all of his components felt fine, he didn’t lose his green pin again, his goggles were still placed on his head.  
“Hmm… hm….”  
Was his drum kit still good? It had been a while since he got it checked. Man, he should really practice tonight. Joe just wrote a song in cut time, and he was going to be a backup singer in another song! He began listing each of his tasks on his finger and- wait a second.  
“A string on my finger? Must have wanted to remember something…” 

Andrew watched as Ross continued to relapse his personal little amnesia loop. Checking the clock, it had been about fifteen minutes.  
“Is he okay?”  
Bora continued typing into his computer.  
“Yeah he’ll be fine, just make sure he doesn’t wander off. I’m almost done with the patch.”  
Ross looked at his hand again.


	4. Love Is Here To Stay/Andrew Has No Power (It's So Sad)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey gets some R&R, and Andrew has no power.

It was about one in the morning.  
No birdsong from outside, no scraping, no deafening, thundering crashes from the workshop. No bickering sentient machinery.   
Pure silence.   
And it was silent up until Casey began mindlessly strumming.   
“_Love is here to stay… no matter what people say…_”   
He shifted his hands from e-minor to f.   
“_And love will last for good… treat others like you should…_”   
Shift to a-minor.  
“_Cause you never know… where you might go… and no one can say what will happen today._”   
He continued singing, repeating the first verse.   
Casey had been debating over sharing this song or not. He had access to a studio through the tallies and Bora, but the thought of sharing his work outside of a hidden website had never crossed him for more than a few minutes at a time.  
“_They may call you crazy… And they may want your head… And they may try to change you   
But you know, you know... You know it's up to you… You know it's up to you..Yeah, come on, come on…_”  
He put his guitar down again his bed, sticking the pick behind the strings.   
“_Cause love is here to stay… no matter what people say…_” 

\----------

Zubin smiled. “_Andrew has no power… it’s so sad…_”   
Joe began strumming softly as Casey lept on stage and began to tinker with Andrew’s mechanics. “_What will we do? It’s so sad…_”   
Rob joined in, harmonizing. “_Andrew has no power… it’s so sad!_”   
“_Teen girl squad!_” Joe interjected.   
Rob laughed. “We probably should’ve rehearsed the “So Sad” song.”   
“That’s the losing our power song- hey I’m feeling Flight of the Conchords?”   
Andy’s pipe let out a burst of steam as he straightened back up, running his hand down the keys of his piano. “Alright, I think I’m rockin’ now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you haven't listened to casey's music you really should


	5. Pepperoni 2/ Have A Nice Day (Interludinal)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rob and Joe order a pizza, and Casey continues to never get a break.

“Hey, guys.” Casey set a menu down next to Rob and Joe. “Me n’ Bora are gonna be working on some repairs downstairs, could you order a pizza for us?”  
“A what?”  
“Food. The menu’s right here with all the options and the number is at the top.”  
He walked back to the stairs, waving. “We’ll be downstairs if you need anything!”  
The clockwork bots stared at the paper, thinking.  
“So,” Rob started. “What do humans, like, eat?”  
“I’ve seen them d-drink beer. Can we get beer on a pizza?”  
“It’s not on the paper.”  
“Uh, what about jalapeños?”  
“Yeah. Should we get salsa?”  
“And pineapple, and ham… what about cigarettes? Those are edible right?”  
“Yeah okay. Sausage, pesto, anchovies… Oh! We should get pepperoni, too!”  
“Pep-pe-pepperoni two? I bet that’s way better than normal pepperoni.”  
“I bet it has like, microchips and lasers and a bunch of cool stuff in it.”  
“Totally.” 

Joe handed the box to Bora, placing the change on top of the receipt. “Here! We d-didn’t really know what to order so we hope you like it.”  
“Thanks, guys.” Casey smiled, placing his rag down and walking over to where the pizza was. “It… oh.”  
The box was open, letting out a _horrid_ smell into the workshop that mixed with the scent of gasoline already present. The poor, poor pizza was covered in every culinary sin imaginable. Pineapple, ham, onions, spinach, and peppers to name a few. It looked radioactive.  
“Bora. We can’t eat this.”  
“I don’t know, dude. I kind of want to try it.”  
“Fine, your funeral.” 

Ross gently placed down a pizza box on the table.  
“Joe and Rob wanted to order you guys a pizza but, well, it never really works out. So I took over.”  
Casey nervously lifted the edge of the lid, peering at the contents.  
It was just bread.  
Bread with very suspicious-looking chunks of meat on half of the slices.  
“Sorry if it’s bad, I got nervous.”  
Casey closed the lid back up, taking a deep breath.  
“It’s fine, Ross.” 

\---------------------

You push the door of the LaBORAtory open, listening to the faint jingling of bells from the doorway.  
“Morning! How can I help you?”  
A man greets you, looking up from his papers. Despite the heat, he’s wearing mostly black in the form of a vest, loose bandana around his neck, and oil-splattered pants under a white apron. His name tag read “Casey”.  
“Oh, I hit a pothole and I just wanted to check my car’s axle.”  
“Cool, we can take a look at it right- oh _fuck_.”  
Following his eyes, you find yourself staring at the two humanoid robots you passed on the way to the shop. The shorter one, the one with the giant pipe-thing sticking out of it’s head, was offering a police officer a small cup of what appears to be lemonade.  
The tall one was brandishing a knife.  
“I’m uh, I’m so sorry but I have to uh, take care of them right now. I’ll just…”  
Casey got up and ran out the door, shouting after the two automatons.  
You take a seat in the waiting area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to thank felix @threepercentlemonjuice for the none pizza left beef gag


	6. Dream Sweet in Sea Major/Hummingbird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Joe and Andy find themselves in strange places

The year is 1998 or so.   
It’s 1998 and it’s midnight. You’re 16, walking along a decrepit beach on the big island of Hawaii. The lights of the nearby townhouses and city reflect like glittering snowflakes on the surface of the calm water. No one’s walking with you- actually, it doesn’t seem like anyone has been here for a while.   
And then you hear it.   
A weathered, mechanical voice carried by the waves, coming from further up the shore.   
“Alone, at the edge of a universe… Humming a tune… For merely dreaming we were snow.. Hmmmm ...”   
The melody was haunting, soaring, blending into the sounds of crashing waves and whistling winds.   
“A siren sounds like the goddess who promises endless apologies of paradise… and only she can make it right… so things are different tonight…”   
Running. You’re running now, towards the voice. It’s strained vocals call to you, like…  
Well, like a siren.   
“We’ll go together in flight…” 

You found it. An abandoned glass box, like the one you would find an old-timey animatronic sitting in. And there was one!   
It’s copper skin was green from what seemed to be decades of oxidation, it’s porcelain face was crumbled and discolored, it had exposed clockwork, the glass that would have protected it from the outside cracked and shattered. There was sand in it’s curly hair, tears in its clothing, old, battered brass goggles sitting around its neck, and a red tie half-buried in the sand at its feet.   
The box, far bigger than one for a single automaton, read thusly.   
“Marvelous Marvin’s Automated Players”. 

\------

November 22nd, 2011.

Andrew’s eye fluttered open as he attempted to bat away whatever was poking at his face.   
“...Ngh? Oh.. hello, little hummingbird.”  
He shakily reached out his arm, smiling as it perched on his finger.   
“I was resting lil’ buddy, just leave me be.”   
The bird cocked its head, taking a bit of his sleeve in its beak and fluttering towards what looked to be a… city?   
“How long has that been there? How long have I been asleep?”   
The bird continued to pull Andy towards the horizon.   
“Hey, hey! It’s not like anyone knows who I am, I’ll cause a riot or something!”   
He paused.   
“...How different is it out there, buddy? Is it anything like what I remember?”   
The bird, of course, didn’t answer him. But it did rest on his shoulder as he brushed off the snow and trudged towards the sunset, whistling a melody.   
Time to find Bora and Casey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was originally the end of the fic!! but ive expanded past it, so take this!


	7. Lonely But Not Alone/ Mind Control, Mind Restart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rob finds himself at a new job, and Zubin finds himself at an old one.

Rob was lucky he was made of gold. Lucky that only one of his arm plates was enough to pay off the scholarship he recklessly abandoned. Lucky, lucky, lucky.   
These were the thoughts he pushed out of his head as he strolled through the currently-empty theme park he had taken up work at. Sunlight gleamed off of his brass plating (brass, no longer gold. Less expensive, easily replaceable, and most importantly antimicrobial. The oligodynamic effect was a blessed thing when having to deal with children all day.)  
He checked the clock outside his loft. 8:00am, an hour until the park opened. Rob opened the door to the innocuous faux-building that housed the small apartment he was gifted, careful not to lock the door just yet. It was arranged like any other house, containing a small kitchen for his yet-to-be-assigned handlers, a small living room, and a bedroom upstairs connected to a balcony. It was as pristine as it was when he first stepped in, unable to personalize it just yet, save for the three framed vinyls on the wall.   
Good & Evil, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, and Not a Trampoline. 

_______

>system reset?  
>y/n  
>y  
>loading backups...  
“Where am I?”   
The young woman in front of him, his boss, smiled softly. “Hey, Zubot. It’s okay, we just had to reset you.”   
“Reset? Why?”   
“Just your hard drive. It... got corrupted. We couldn’t salvage your early backups, only those from a year or two ago. I’m sorry.”   
There was an audible hum from his engine as he processed what happened. Only two years of memories saved? That’s… God, that’s nothing! He needed to tell his bandmates! His… wait, who were they again?   
Oh no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones a bit shorter but I hope it's as good as the last. Just something to establish a little more info


	8. Together Again/Taken For A Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Disneyland employee makes some strange discoveries.

C.C. strained a bit as he spun the robot’s key for the last time, walking back around to admire his handiwork.   
“You really think this is gonna fix it, kid?” His supervisor looked over to him with a wary glance.  
“Yeah, that should do it.”   
Almost on cue, it sputtered to life, straightening up mechanically before looking around in confusion.   
“Wh… Where am I?”   
The supervisor gasped, hand on the door handle. “That thing’s _alive_?”   
“Shh,” C.C. took a step forward. “Hey, you okay? You’re Rob, right?”  
He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah I- who are you?”   
“Casin- Actually, just call me C.C.”   
“Cool. Did you-?” He made a sort of screwing motion into his arm.   
“Huh? Oh, yeah I fixed you up. You had an old brass cog stuck in your steel ones so I replaced it.”   
“Oh!” He smiled. “Thank you! _I could’ve sworn Bora replaced those a while ago_…”   
“Maybe he missed one-?”   
C.C.’s thought was cut off by the warehouse's door creaking open.   
“Good news, Casington!” His boss stated with a smile.   
C.C. glanced at Rob before speaking. “Uh, what’s up, boss?”   
“Talked to my boss, and you’ve been made this guy’s caretaker!” He clapped them both on the back, clipping Rob’s key. “Enjoy the promotion!”

\-----

“Good morning, C.C.!”   
“Hey!” C.C. waved hello at his coworker, Emma, as he entered the break room.   
“Dude, you really need to fix up that other bot. It’s busted to all hell.”   
He paused.   
“...What other bot?”   
“Y’know, the broken-as-fuck silvery one? I saw it this morning with the other one, has a giant pipe sticking out of its head.”   
Huh.

C.C. swung open the door of the apartment. “Hey, Rob, do you know anything about a-?”   
Rob-bot turned away from what looked to be a hummingbird feeder… and a decrepit-looking robot. “Oh, morning, C.C.! This is Andy.”   
The other robot waved.   
“Um… hello?”  
“Hi!” A bit of rust chipped off his face and fell onto the floor.  
Rob smiled. “We all lost track of Andrew a _long_ time ago. It’s nice to finally see you again, man!”   
“You too! God, you will not believe the amount of time it took for me to walk over here. Last time I hiked I would just hitch a ride in a train car every few miles but now? Nothing but cars, it’s crazy!   
C.C. eyed his rusted pipe. “Wait, so how did you- whoa!”   
He held up his hands as an orange blur hovered around his face, his ears being bombarded by high-pitched cheeps.   
“Hey! Pluto, stop!” Andy called out, rushing over to him.  
The fluttering around his face slowly subsided, with the cheeps dying down only slightly. Slowly, C.C. lowered his hands, finding himself face-to-face with a small, earthy-orange hummingbird.   
“Uh… Hi, little guy. I guess you’re why the birdfeeder is out.”   
He held out his hand, the bird happily settling down on his fingers. “What did you call him?”   
“Pluto! Like the dog.”   
“Ah, of course.”   
Pluto was still staring expectantly at C.C., like he expected him to say or do something specific. After a few minutes of C.C. awkwardly maneuvering with him on his finger, Pluto fluttered to sit on his head, burrowing slightly in his hair.   
“Oh… okay, then.”   
“Aw, did you make a friend?” Rob called out. “He seems to like you.”   
“I guess I did.”   
As Pluto continued to nest in his hair, C.C. couldn’t help but feel a faint, lingering sense of déjà vu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa! New characters! 
> 
> Also, a small little disclaimer about this au moving forward after the allegations against Joe. I'm choosing not to remove Joebot from the canon. AP is, at it's core, based on the T.H.I.S. personas of the Tallies, so I wouldn't feel comfortable removing an entire band member from future chapters. That being said, I'm unsure what exactly I'm going to do with him moving forward. I hope you all understand, thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> [vine voice] im sorry class


End file.
